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EQUUS
by Peter Shaffer Directed by ¬– Honored Worker of Arts of Uzbekistan Nabi ABDURAKHMANOV Set designers – Timur BEKMAMBETOV (Russia), Dmitriy MOKHOV (Belorussia) Composer – Laureate of International Awards – Dmitriy YANOV-YANOVSKY Premiere in “Dard” Theatre-Studio id held on 20, October, 1988 Premiere in Youth theatre of Uzbekistan is held on 3, December, 1991. Duration – 2 hours and 30 minutes, intermission included. Many people who saw this production and those who directly participated in its making claimed “EQUUS” to determine some significant moments in their subsequent career and even lives. Many people remembered and carried through their lives that sense of revelation and even the catharsis, gifted to them by the Theatre. Many viewers who changed with the age or changing the country of their residence, still, would like to come back to those times when THIS happened to them and all of us… We think that a new time has come for Equus. How can the problems of a person in different periods of his life be seized into a brief couple of lines? The story of a child, who, at 6, could discover the God… The story of a boy, who lost the God of his own self… The story of a man, who thought of himself as the God… The story of Equus… The story of a person, who foresaw the Divine extent of the eternal human soul… The Legend of the Production In 1998, Nabi Adburakhmanov established the Theatre-Studio “DARD” (meaning in Uzbek - “the ache of soul” or “the empathy”). The core of the Theatre’s ensemble was assembled from the graduates of the acting-directing-specialized course of the Theatrical Institute, where Nabi Abdurakhmanov served as a teacher (the People’s Artist of Uzbekistan A. Z. Kabulov was the master of the course). The 20th of October in 1988 was marked as the premiere date for the production of “EQUUS” in the Theatre-Studio “DARD”, directed by Nabi Abdurakhmanov. The young, beginning set artist Timur Bekmambetov was chosen as the production designer. In 1991 Nabi Abdurakhmanov leads the team of the Russian theatre for young spectators (The Youth Theatre of Uzbekistan, as for now) in a position of the Artistic Director. The production of “EQUUS” became one of the first his productions of the theatre. The date of December 3rd, 1991 is known as the premiere of one of the most symbolic productions of the Theatre’s history, with Victor Verjbitsky in the lead role (he also played the part in the Theatre-Studio “DARD”). Famous Belorussian artist Dmitry Mokhov designed sets for the revived version of the play, using the elements of the original stenography by Timur Bekmambetov. In 1998, due to the numerous demands from audiences and thanks for the grandest desire of the Theatre’s young generation of actors, the production of “EQUUS” was finally revived. The role of Martin Dysart was performed by young actors of the Theatre – first by Arthur Bogomolov and later – by Albert Khalmurzaev. Nevertheless, due to objective circumstances (a number of theatre’s actors, who were involved in the production, changed the country of residence) the play was taken down from the repertoire. But it was always heartily remembered by both audience members and performers. In 2008, to the proposal of the Artistic Director of the Youth Theatre Nabi Abdurakhmanov, the now-famous and recognized actor of the Russian Federation Victor Verjbitsky vividly agreed to reprise his role, noting that for all those years of his artistic work, the role of Martin Dysart had always been one of his most memorable and favorite. The show "EQUUS" presently is one of the most successful shows in the repertoire with Albert Khalmurzaev as Martin Dysart and Obid Abdurakhmanov as Alan Strang. |